European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned on September 14 that Europe must develop its own artificial intelligence infrastructure to avoid dependence on US and Chinese technology. She highlighted that last year the US produced 59 notable AI models and China 35, while Europe created only two.
Europe currently possesses approximately 5% of global AI computing capacity, compared to 75% in the US. Lagarde estimates that bridging this gap could require investments of up to €600 billion over the next decade. Without intervention, the data-center capacity deficit is projected to increase more than sixfold.
Lagarde identified French company Mistral and Dutch firm ASML as key players for a domestic ecosystem. She noted that rapid AI adoption could increase European productivity by 4% over the next ten years. The ECB president also emphasized the need for deeper capital market integration to support local innovation.
The official expressed concern that geopolitical disruptions could restrict access to foreign AI tools, potentially impacting critical sectors like healthcare and finance. She noted that European households currently invest heavily in US tech firms, which limits the capital available for domestic companies.
